Family Member Interview: Marty Friedman
What do you like to do when you have spare time?
I like to read, listen to my music, watch television. I would think that this is a pretty common response, but I like reading about historical events and figures, while my T.V watching is usually limited to the news channels, politics and economics mainly.
Do you think that what you do in that time is "cool"?
I don't really consider it cool, but I think its a much better way to spend time than what you and your brother do (we tend to spend a lot of time on our computers, and playing Xbox), other than your schoolwork and reading of course.
Does being cool matter to you?
I would say it doesn't, but I like to stay in touch with what's going on. Even if I don't really like alot of the music and styles nowadays, I do know what they are. Being informed is what matters to me. Being cool....not so much.
Even if it doesn't, what do you think is cool?
I mean, I think that new technology is cool. I think it has a few particularly negative effects on people today, and adults are being effected as much, if not more than kids. For example the Iphone is a great thing, but it has isolated a lot of people who use that little screen to escape in there own world.
Who do you think embodies "cool" in your mind?
Frank Sinatra. That's it, he was just so good at what he did, and did it for so much longer than everybody else. He is known as widely today as he was in the 1940's, and he always appeared to be doing his thing so effortlessly.
What sort of things, or what person is completely not cool in your opinion? Why?
I think that what isn't cool, is difficult to answer. I would have to give that a little more thought, and be able to set aside my own prejudices given what I have seen in my life. Generally, I think ignorance is not cool. Being ignorant is a primary cause of massive problems in today's world. Things like America's involvement in the middle east is partly the result of ignorance. Not paying attention to history resulted in our government disregarding it and following in the exact footsteps of many empires and nations before us.
Friend Interview: Hunter Cavat- Gore
Do you think that you are cool?
"No, I think my girlfriend thinks I'm cool, but I don't. I think "cool" is overplayed, and I just don't take time out of my life to think about being "cool". Doing what I like to do is more important than my social image, at least to me. Being cool often means that people who don't really know you, or you don't care about, think you are "cool". For me I just focus on the people I care about, and that's it."
What do you think makes a person cool?
"I think that people who are "cool" are more worried about what they can do for the world, than what they can do to change how the world sees them. I mean, I think it's a lot more cool to be a doctor who actually helps people, than a person who gets wins a drinking competition, and fucks the baddest girl at the party, but contributes nothing to society."
Where do you find it important to be seen as cool?
"As a teenager, I think for most people, being seen as "cool" is really important. If it mattered to me, I would think being seen that way was very important. Being cool, is like the term used to describe people who are at the top of some sort of "social competition" trying to essentially win at life (ridiculous as that may sound). If being cool is something you actually care about, it may always be "important" to be cool. Realistically though being cool is never important. What is important is to get along with your peers. It may seem to be the same thing as cool, but if "cool" happens to be a side effect of getting along with others, than I guess being cool helps with that."
Are people cool in unique ways, or do "cool" people fit into categories of coolness?
"Nah, I think people all have different methods to be cool. I mean technically we are all different, so we start off trying to be cool from a different standpoint. Some people are naturally better at sports, and by becoming a good athlete, they become "cool". People's natural abilities is what makes a person good at something, and thus cool in a certain way. The fact is, people are impressed by other people who can do something better than they can. Things that anyone can do, like buy stuff, drink alot, smoke alot, etc, etc, are all trivial, and not talents. Being athletic, or creative, or funny, those things are talents and the categories that they fit into, depend on the certain ability they have."
Street Interviews
Street Interview #1: Young Asian Guy
I tried to walk with this guy, in the hopes of him answering some of my questions. I expected that I might get a response when I asked him about who he thought a "cool celebrity was?", but I did not. Not only didn't he answer me, but as I walked with him, he tried to turn around and walk facing away from me. This was surprising to me, but I guess some people really don't like talking to other people. I decided that this guy was not cool because he was trying to hard to not talk to me. If he was cool, ignoring me would have been effortless, but he kept looking back to see if I was still with him. Uncool!
Street Interview #2: Older Caucasian Man in a van.
Me and Charles asked an older man in car, what he thought was cool, and what specifically made someone cool. Unlike the Asian guy, this man responded;
"Stay away from drugs, and live a good life. Be yourself and not just another one of the crowd"
I think that this statement was pretty generic, and I didn't get much insight from what he said. However, his additional "anti-drug" statement seemed to show me that being "cool" in his mind is being sober, and aware of the world around you. I'm not sure if he was just repeating rhetoric, but it was interesting nonetheless.
Street Interview #3: Time Warner Cable Guy in TWC Van
I asked a cable guy waiting for the light, who he thought the coolest celebrity is. He said;
"I would say the coolest celebrity is Tiger Woods because of all those girlfriends he has!"
This was funny in the sense that I was unfamiliar with what had happened with the whole "Tiger Woods thing" and honestly didn't really know what he was talking about when he said that. I think it's pretty funny he said that, but I also think he was joking when he said it. The point of saying Tiger Woods I think, was to be witty by responding to the question with topical humor. This guy was pretty cool, although he didn't really answer the question in the way I would have liked. This is an example of how cool it is sometimes to do your own thing (the cable guy "did his own thing" by responding in his own way).
Street Interview #4: Officer Perez
Me, Charles and Lauren went up to a cop car to ask this cop what he thought made a "cool" person, he was actually really friendly and briefly responded to the question.
"Be yourself and be awesome"
Despite the lack of meaning or thought that went into this response, we all found Officer Perez to be a pretty "cool" cop, and a cool guy. He may not have been insightful in his response, but at least he was friendly. Being friendly seems to be pretty cool.
Street Interview #5: Ben (younger Caucasian man)
I saw a guy walking down the block who seemed kinda' artistic given the way he dressed. I assumed he would be a nice enough guy and give me an interesting response. I decided to catch up with him and ask him about who he thought the coolest celebrity was. As it turned out, I was right, the guy was pretty nice, and actually stopped to talk with me briefly.
"I think Johnny Depp is the coolest celebrity. He is a good actor, and really popular, but he stays away from the limelight and still remains a cool guy."
This was my first insightful interview that day. Ben made an interesting point by saying how people who are cool, don't try and get attention, they just get it. Johnny Depp manages to be a cool guy, because he isn't in tabloids and retains a sense of self. When most celebrities stay in the media's focus, the public starts to feel like they actually know these celebrities. By staying away from that, Depp maintains his humanity and downplays his coolness. Downplaying your coolness is very cool.
Finally, I thought that when conducting these interviews, it was always better to start off with the most "cool" question. Questions that make the interviewee think to much, or confuse them will make them less likely to continue talking with you. Asking them about a celebrity however is more interesting to most people, because more people like to talk about celebrities than themselves, or social trends.
Also, it seemed to work for me to start off by saying the survey was for my "sociology class" and not my social studies class. I think it made people think about what I had to say more seriously and with less skepticism about how old I was or looked. Being more eloquent also had a similar effect, and worked a lot better than taking a conversational tone. I think that could be attributed to the lack of patience people had in the morning for high school students rather than sociology students.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment